Twentieth-century art may start with nothing, but it flourishes by virtue of its belief in itself, in the possibility of read more

Twentieth-century art may start with nothing, but it flourishes by virtue of its belief in itself, in the possibility of control over what seems essentially uncontrollable, in the coherence of the inchoate, and in its ability to create its own values.

I remember being handed a score composed by Mozart at the age of eleven. What could I say? I felt read more

I remember being handed a score composed by Mozart at the age of eleven. What could I say? I felt like de Kooning, who was asked to comment on a certain abstract painting, and answered in the negative. He was then told it was the work of a celebrated monkey. 'That's different. For a monkey, it's terrific.' - "London Magazine", March, 1967.

Feminist art is not some tiny creek running off the great river of real art. It is not some crack read more

Feminist art is not some tiny creek running off the great river of real art. It is not some crack in an otherwise flawless stone. It is, quite spectacularly I think, art which is not based on the subjugation of one half of the species. It is art which will take the great human themes --love, death, heroism, suffering, history itself --and render them fully human. It may also, though perhaps our imaginations are so mutilated now that we are incapable even of the ambition, introduce a new theme, one as great and as rich as those others --should we call it "joy"?.

What the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten, read more

What the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten, and replaced by a new dish.

Balance is the enemy of art.

Balance is the enemy of art.

From the shore.. one looks
upward to the sanddune grass..
10,000
green brushes attempting
where they laid
to paint read more

From the shore.. one looks
upward to the sanddune grass..
10,000
green brushes attempting
where they laid
to paint the blue sky
jade.

When Michelangelo finished the painting of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, he spent the rest of his life trying to remove read more

When Michelangelo finished the painting of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, he spent the rest of his life trying to remove the paint that had poured into his sleeve.

Abstract art: a product of the untalented sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.

Abstract art: a product of the untalented sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.

Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun.

Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun.